Stevia

To shop for Stevia, go to IBS Shopping.com - under the soymilk
store in the Amazon a-store "IBS Mall," find the Stevia Alcove.

BASICS
Here is some basic information about the supersweet herb known as
"stevia." It seems to be well-tolerated by people with Irritable Bowel
Syndrome (IBS), and offers an alternative to the use of sugar, or
"evaporated cane juice," as organic products frequently call sugar.
What follows are two quotes from a) one well-researched introduction
to a stevia cookbook, and b) the forward to another, by a guest expert
in the field.

"Stevia rebaudiana is an inconspicuous herb native to sections of
Paraguay and Brazil in the subtropical part of South America. . .

How sweet is it?
Green stevia powder and dried stevia leaves are up to 15 times
sweeter than cane sugar. Stevia extract powder may be up to 300
times sweeter than sugar. This means it takes very little to sweeten a
recipe, so cost must be evaluated on that basis.

Safety
Stevia has undergone numberous toxicity tests. None of these tests
have shown anyharmful effects. Few substances can make this claim.
The real test, though, was centuries of continuoususe by natives of
South America. In addition, thousands of tons of stevia extracts have
been consumed over thelast 20 years in many countries with no
harmful effects reported."

From Jeffrey Goettemoeller, Stevia Sweet Recipes:
Sugar-Free--Naturally! Second Edition (Bloomingdale, IL:Vital Health
Publishing, 1999) 11.

Find it at Amazon.com

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There is also the following, by a noted expert on South American
herbs:

"Stevia . . [isa]health-promoting, incredibly sweet herb that contains no
calories and has a glycemic index of 0. . . . Stevia, in any of its
consumable forms, does not adversely affect blood sugar, and
therefore may be used freely by people with diabetes or
hypoglycemia. The whole-leaf stevia, besides being sweet, is
remarkably nutritious, while the stevia extract is incredibly sweet (about
200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar).
. . .
Stevia is an incredible plant. It is not only safe to use, it is good for you
and adds no calories to your food. It does not make you crave more
of it, as do some artificial sweeteners. In fact, stevia tends to reduce
one's cravings for sweets . . . (vi)."

By James A. May, "Foreword" in Stevia: Naturally Sweet Recipes for
Desserts, Drinks, and More, by Rita Depuydt (Summertown, TN:
Book Publishing Company, 2002).

James A. May is himself the author of Miracle of Stevia: Discover the
Healing Power of Nature's Herbal Sweetener (no place:Kensington
Publishing Corporation, 2003) vi.

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If you go to the Amazon.com IBS Store at www.ibsshopping.com, and
go to the group of categories, you will find, under the visible "Soy
Store," a Stevia Alcove, which has stevia products in many, many
forms, from liquid extract to powder in packets to spoonable powder
to sweetened chocolate for making chocolate milk!